during the current Embas.r"i[5iiiChampionship between QuintenHann andAndy Hicks has led to.aboxing showdown. Aussie Hann,who lives in Ealing, has beenchallenged by Hicks'friend MarkKing in a bizarre f 10,000 prizefight. King, who was also a frst-round loser at The Crucible -where the toumament is held -was furious with Hann forlabelling his pal 'short and bald'during a fust round clash lastweek and vowed to gain revengefor his mate. He saidi "t iant ;,aitto smash his face in. Andy Hicksis a nice bloke. Hann was justpicking on him because he issmall." Hann and King, both inftaining for the fight, will clash infour two-minute rounds on June11 at the famous York Hall boxingvenue in Bethnal Green.

llGU lose Gu0linal UeludeFOOTBALL: North GreenfordUnited meet Seagrave Haulagegiants AFC Wimbledon tonight(Friday) in the Premier LeagueChallenge Cup final. The Donswon a dress rehearsal in Greenfordon Tuesday n1dht2-1. Both sidesrested players for the final and in agame played in monsoonconditions, Paul Quinn and ShaneSmall-King put Wimbledon 2-0 up.Waleed Maisery conVerted an 81stminute comer for $GU.

Cup ptoUtessin the poolWATER POLO: EalingSwimming Club's water poloteam triumphed over their fellowLondon League divisionadversaries Harlow on Thursdaynight to secure their place in thesecond round of the RefereesCup. The competition, waterpolo's equivalent of the FA Cup,pitches monsters againstminnows with some surprisingresults and operates a goalhandicap system based on aclub's position in the league andperformances last year, whichadds an extra spice toproceedings. Ealing face theconsiderable talent of OtterSwimming Club in the secondround and must defend an eight-goal advantage.

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Fulham a penalty in the

LUIS Boa Morte maybe looking forward toplaying his part in thissummer's EuropeanChampionships in hisnative Portugal - but fornow he still has a majormission with his club.

The flying winger, whohas had another eye+atchingseason with the Whites" isdetermined to see the teamfinish the season on a high.

And the benefits are notonly to his form and thecha4ces of making his coun-try's starting line-up in thesuIIlmer.

"It's important to get a goodfinish so we can bring asmany fans with us when wego back to Craven Cottagenext season," he said afterSaturday's important derbywin - a view emphasised bythe fact all the players wore T:-

shirts in the warm-up with theslogan 'Come back with us tothe Cottage for 2004-5.'

"Hopefully, I will keep myform," he continued. "I'moptimistic about staying atFulham [he has a year left]and I'm enjoying playing rightnow. I always believe that ifyou are playing well for yourclub, you improve your inter-national chances.

l'If Fulham don't get intoEurope, then playing forPortugal might make up for ita little bit, but I'm employedby Fulham and it's for them Ihave to keep performing at mybest."

American defender CarlosBocanegra, another man typi-fying the mood to finish the

season at full throttle, said: "Ifeel comfortable, and we'veplayed well. Blackbum wasout of character for us, butwe're climbing the ladder.

"I haven't been to any ofthe big grounds like

-Old

Trafford and Highbury yet,but that's going to have towait. I'm settling in well.

"My hope was always tocome and play in thehemiership for a few years,and keep my place in the USAteam. I hope to feature in theWorld Cup qualifier againstGrenada in the summer."

Saturday brought plenty ofgood cheer and renewed opti-mism for Fulham in their fightfor a place in Europe nextseason.

Sean Davis, left out atLiverpool because of a breachof club rules, returned with avengeance, Fulham leap-frogged three places to sev-

enth, and the fans loudlyrejoiced at their imminentretum to Craven Cottage.

Once Davis had sealed acomfortable win with a sec-ond-half wonder strike, thefans spent much of the secondhalf singing 'going home'.

"It's where we belong,"explained Chris Coleman."I've said all season howimportant it is to do well thisyear, so when we get back tothe Cottage we can all be in apositive frame of mind andcontinue marching onwards."

Coleman was full of praisefor 24-year-old Davis. He wasback in the bossl good booksafter coming on as a substituteon 64 minutes and scoringFulham's second with a long-range volley.

"He shlt me up didn't he?And I'm glad he did," saidColeman. "He was full ofenthusiasm, got involved in a

lot of good play and definitelyseemed like he was trying toprove a point. On this type ofform he's an extremely goodplayer and not far off fromknocking on England's door."

Coleman is well aware ofthe difficulty in meting outpunishments to players he wasplaying alongside only a yearago. "I didn't exactly live likea priest when I was a playermyself. I enjoyed a beer withthe lads. But I'm the managernow and get paid to makemanagerial decisions. "

Davis' superb strike wasindicative of the home side'ssuperiority throughout thesecond half. It was a differentstory in the first 45 minutesthough. The visitors wereaggrieved by two penaltyclaims ignored by blunderingreferee Matt Messias. MartinDjetou handled a cross in the24th mtnate and Jason Euell

was brought down by AlainGoma 10 minutes later.

Messias was moregenerous in awarding

17th minute after DeanKiely had felled a rampant

Boa Morte. Steed Malbranquecoolly converted.

With the defence effectivelysnuffing out the threat ofPaoloDi Cado - thrown on in anattacking triple substitutionwith 20 minutes left- rhe hometeam managed to keep theirflfth clean sheet in six games.

After overtaking the losingvisitors, Fulham have to keepthis momentum going for theirlast three games to keep theirEuropean dream intact.

"I'm delighted with today'sperformance," said Coleman.

"We've kept alive ourambitions for a top-six finishbut still have a tough run-in.

"We're hoping for Villa orNewcastle to slip up andwe're going to need anothergutsy display againstPortsmouth next week but it'sall to play for."

Summing up the currenlposition, Edwin Van der Sarnoted: "Aston Villa won againand so did Liverpool, so that'sa bummer. When you get threepoints, maybe you hope for alittle help from the others.

"We have three toughgames to go and you hope thatas champions Arsenal mightwaflt to give some key playersa rest.

"Conceding four againstBlackbum was a surprise, andit upset a lot of our playersand our realistic hope of get-ting somewhere, but we'restill in it. Nothing is decided,so we really have to go for it."FULHAM: Van Der Sar; Volz,Bocanegra, Goma, Pearce; Djetou;I-egwinskin Malbranque, Petta @avis46); John (McBride 69), Boa Morte(namoto 76). Suhs not used: Cmssley,Knight. Att: 16,585. SCORERS:Malbranque (pen, 18), Davis (64),Star player: Steed.MalbranqueEntertainment rating: +*+

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